About

The MAM movement is a grassroots initiative undertaken by concerned individuals in an effort to highlight the issues around Genetically Modified Organisms throughout the world.

Join us as we take to the streets.

Bring your friends, your families, both young and old.

Our mission: To create awareness of the many dangers and myths of Genetically Modified Foods, and to help people make informed decisions about the food they buy.

Why do we march against GMOs ?

For a growing list of reasons, some of them being:

1. Health Concerns:

Tests conducted showing safety of GMOs, do not exceed 90 days. This is not sufficient to determine long term effects of GMOs.

Independent studies done on lab animals show GMOs to cause Organ Damage, Gastrointestinal and Immune System Disorders, Accelerated Aging, Infertility, Cancer tumours, amongst others. Since GMOs have been introduced, there has been a significant rise in chronic illnesses. People who have stopped consuming all GMOs reporting drastic improvement or total elimination of conditions such as ADHD, Allergies, Thyroidism, Infertility, Digestive Issues, overall health and well being. GMOs exist in one form or another in foods consumed by every adult, child or baby, unless on a purely organic diet. Without labelling, there is no way to know what foods do not contain GMOs. Furthermore, GMO foods have a far lower nutritional value compared to the organic counterpart. The implication is that our food no longer provides the nourishment it did previously. Hence we are made to be the guinea pigs in this world wide experiment that has been unleashed into the public without public consent, and without alternative options.

2. Genetic Engineering creates Mutations with Dangerous Side Effects

By mixing genes from totally unrelated species, genetic engineering unleashes a host of unpredictable side effects. Moreover, irrespective of the type of genes that are inserted, the very process of creating a GM plant can result in massive collateral damage that produces new toxins, allergens, carcinogens, and nutritional deficiencies. Consuming this causes the mutations to exist in the person. Science does not yet understand how to control the effect of DNA insertion, or what it’s domino effect will be on the person consuming it.

3. Ethical and Religious Violations

Genetically engineered foods create specific ethical problems for those of various faiths. Fish genes in Tomatoes. Pig genes in Oranges. Religious people, Vegans or Vegetarians, Seventh Day Adventists, Hindus and Buddhists, want to be able to avoid fruits and vegetables with insect, animal or humans genes in them. Jews and Muslims, who have special religious dietary laws, want to be able to make sure that genetically engineered foods do not violate their restrictions. Many others who are not formally religious wish to avoid genetically engineered foods because they also have serious ethical objections. Under current laws, meats, vegetables, and fruits can even contain human genes without our knowing it. This kind of cannibalism is repulsive to most people. Again, without labelling, we have no way of knowing what is in the food we are consuming.

4. Government Corruption

Most of the health and environmental risks of GMOs are ignored by governments’ superficial regulations and safety assessments. The reason for this tragedy is largely political. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for example, doesn’t require a single safety study, does not mandate labelling of GMOs, and allows companies to put their GM foods onto the market without even notifying the agency. Their justification was the claim that they had no information showing that GM foods were substantially different. But this was a lie. Secret agency memos made public by a lawsuit show that the overwhelming consensus even among the FDA’s own scientists was that GMOs can create unpredictable, hard-to-detect side effects. They urged long-term safety studies. But the White House had instructed the FDA to promote biotechnology, and the agency official in charge of policy was Michael Taylor, Monsanto’s former attorney, later their vice president. He’s now the US Food Safety and Veterinary Deputy Commissioner.

Real Scientists speak out. Biotech companies like Monsanto told us that Agent Orange, PCBs, and DDT were safe. They are now using the same type of superficial, rigged research to try and convince us that GMOs are safe. Independent scientists, however, have caught the spin-masters red-handed, demonstrating without doubt how industry-funded research is designed to avoid finding problems, and how adverse findings are distorted or denied. “There is a compilation (June 2012) of over 500 government reports and scientific articles published in peer reviewed Journals, some of them with the highest recognition in the world. Like The Lancet in the medical field, or Advances in Food and Nutrition Research, or Biotechnology, or Scandinavian Journal of Immunology, European Journal of Histochemistry, Journal of Proteome Research, etc. This compilation was made by a genetic engineer in London, and an investigative journalist who summarized the gist of the publications for the lay public. GMO Myths and Truths – an evidence based examination of the claims made for the safety and efficacy of genetically modified crops. A report of 120 pages, it can be downloaded for free from Earth Open Source. “GMO Myths and Truths” disputes the claims of the Biotech industry that GM crops yield better and more nutritious food, that they save on the use of pesticides, have no environmental impact whatsoever and are perfectly safe to eat” – former Pro GMO Research Scientist, Dr. Thiery Vrain.

6. GMOs harm the environment.

GM crops and their associated herbicides can harm birds, bees, insects, amphibians, marine ecosystems, and soil organisms. They reduce bio-diversity, pollute water resources, and are unsustainable. For example, GM crops are eliminating habitat for monarch butterflies, whose populations are down 50% in the US. Roundup herbicide has been shown to cause birth defects in amphibians, embryonic deaths and endocrine disruptions, and organ damage in animals even at very low doses.

7. GMO Contamination is Permanent

GMOs cross pollinate and their seeds can travel by wind, bird droppings or transportation of goods. It is impossible to fully clean up our contaminated gene pool. Self-propagating GMO pollution will outlast the effects of global warming and nuclear waste. The potential impact is huge, threatening the health of future generations. GMO contamination has also caused economic losses for organic and non-GMO farmers who often struggle to keep their crops pure. Farmers have been sued by Monsanto for illegally growing their patented seed, despite the farmers not wanting GMO seeds on their property in the first place. After years, only very recently has a law been passed that prevents Monsanto from suing farmers for cross contamination.

8. GMOs do not increase yields, and work against feeding a hungry world.

Whereas sustainable non-GMO agricultural methods used in developing countries have conclusively resulted in yield increases of 79% and higher, GMOs do not, on average, increase yields at all. This was evident in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ 2009 report Failure to Yield―the definitive study to date on GM crops and yield. The International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) report, authored by more than 400 scientists and backed by 58 governments, stated that GM crop yields were “highly variable” and in some cases, “yields declined.” The report noted, “Assessment of the technology lags behind its development, information is anecdotal and contradictory, and uncertainty about possible benefits and damage is unavoidable.” They determined that the current GMOs have nothing to offer the goals of reducing hunger and poverty, improving nutrition, health and rural livelihoods, and facilitating social and environmental sustainability. On the contrary, GMOs divert money and resources that would otherwise be spent on more safe, reliable, and appropriate technologies.

9. GMO technology ruins local Farmers

In India, around 270 000 farmers committed suicide due to their GMO crops failing over consecutive years. Due to the Terminator gene, which renders the seeds from a crop infertile, farmers could not save their seeds for the next planting season. Forced to buy seeds every year, with no income to buy it with, farmers went into heavy debt and committed suicide out of desperation. Apart from failed crops and the growing need for more expensive pesticide, farm workers have been suffering from the toxic effects of the heavy pesticide use. Workers are not given proper protective gear, and as a result have been succumbing to dreaded illnesses such as Cancer, Infertility, Toxic exposure, Miscarriages and babies born with deformities.

10. Create a Tipping Point in the Market!

By avoiding GMOs, you contribute to the coming tipping point of consumer rejection, forcing them out of our food supply. Because GMOs give no consumer benefits, if even a small percentage of us start rejecting brands that contain them, GM ingredients will become a marketing liability. Food companies will kick them out. In Europe, for example, the tipping point was achieved in 1999, just after a high profile GMO safety scandal hit the papers and alerted citizens to the potential dangers. Today, GMOs are banned in the UK, purely as a result of public demand.

Let us too, join forces to drive GMOs out of South Africa!

Alone, we are mere drops in the ocean.

Together, we form a Tidal Wave, that can Topple over the giants towering over us.